Reducing mobile-phone fraud

ABSTRACT

Methods and products for facilitating a method of reducing mobile-phone fraud are provided. One method includes receiving a request to activate a mobile device, determining that it is identified as lost or stolen, communicating to the mobile device activation data that enables the mobile device to communicate via a wireless-telecommunications network despite the fact that the mobile device was determined to be identified as lost or stolen, and communicating to the mobile device functionality-impairment instructions that deliberately disable a set of functional aspects of the mobile device, thereby transforming it from a first state to a second state that is functionally impaired compared to the first state.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/905,205, filed Oct. 15, 2010, entitled “Reducing Mobile-Phone Fraud,”herein incorporated by reference.

SUMMARY

A high-level overview of various aspects of an embodiment of theinvention is provided here for that reason, to provide an overview ofthe disclosure, and to introduce a selection of concepts that arefurther described below in the detailed-description section. Thissummary is not intended to identify key features or essential featuresof the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aidin isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. Inbrief and at a high level, this disclosure describes, among otherthings, ways of reducing mobile-phone fraud by deliberately inflictingcertain functional impairments onto a mobile device that ultimately leadit to be taken into a service center where it can be reclaimed after itis identified as having been reported as lost or stolen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the technology are described in detail belowwith reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary calling device (variously referred to as a“mobile calling device” or sometimes just “phone”) according to oneembodiment of the technology;

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict illustrative operating environments suitable forpracticing an embodiment of the technology;

FIGS. 3 and 4 depict illustrative process-flow diagrams that depictmethods for reducing mobile-phone fraud according to embodiments of thetechnology;

FIG. 5 depicts mobile device transitioning from a mobile state into animpaired state; and

FIGS. 6-8 depict three illustrative methods for reducing mobile-phonefraud according to embodiments of the technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of the present technology is described withspecificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, thedescription itself is not intended to define the technology, which iswhat the claims do. Rather, the claimed subject matter might be embodiedin other ways to include different steps or combinations of stepssimilar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction withother present or future technologies. Moreover, although the term “step”or other generic term might be used herein to connote differentcomponents or methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted asimplying any particular order among or between various steps hereindisclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps isexplicitly described.

Throughout this disclosure, several acronyms and shorthand notations areused to aid the understanding of certain concepts pertaining to theassociated system and services. These acronyms and shorthand notationsare solely intended for the purpose of providing an easy methodology ofcommunicating the ideas expressed herein and are in no way meant tolimit the scope of the present technology. The following is a list ofthese acronyms:

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange CDMA CodeDivision Multiple Access ESN Electronic Serial Number GISGeographic/Geographical/Geospatial Information System GPRS GeneralPacket Radio Service GSM Global System for Mobile communications:originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile MSID Mobil Subscriber IdentifierIP Internet Protocol LTE Long Term Evolution PSTN Public SwitchedTelephone Network SMS Short Message Service TDMA Time Division MultipleAccess UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

Further, various technical terms are used throughout this description.An illustrative resource that fleshes out various aspects of these termscan be found in Newton's Telecom Dictionary, 25th Edition (2009).

Embodiments of the technology may take the form of, among other things:a method, system, or set of instructions embodied on one or morecomputer-readable media. Computer-readable media include both volatileand nonvolatile media, removable and nonremovable media, and contemplatemedia readable by a database, a switch, and various other networkdevices. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable mediacomprise media implemented in any method or technology for storinginformation. Examples of stored information include computer-useableinstructions, data structures, program modules, and other datarepresentations. Media examples include, but are not limited toinformation-delivery media, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or othermemory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile discs (DVD), holographicmedia or other optical disc storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage, and other magnetic storage devices. Thesetechnologies can store data momentarily, temporarily, or permanently.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an illustrative communicationsdevice according to one embodiment is provided and referenced generallyby the numeral 100. Although some components are shown in the singular,they may be plural. For example, communications device 100 might includemultiple processors or multiple radios, etc. As illustratively shown,communications device 100 includes a bus 110 that directly or indirectlycouples various components together including memory 112, a processor114, a presentation component 116, a radio 117 (if applicable),input/output ports 118, input/output components 120, and a power supply122.

Memory 112 might take the form of memory components previouslydescribed. Thus, further elaboration will not be provided here, only tosay that memory component 112 can include any type of medium that iscapable of storing information (e.g., a database). A database can be anycollection of records. In one embodiment, memory 112 includes a set ofembodied computer-executable instructions 113 that, when executed,facilitate various aspects disclosed herein. These embodied instructionswill variously be referred to as “instructions” or an “application” forshort.

Processor 114 might actually be multiple processors that receiveinstructions and process them accordingly. Presentation component 116includes the likes of a display, a speaker, as well as other componentsthat can present information (such as a lamp (LED), or even lightedkeyboards).

Numeral 117 represents a radio that facilitates communication with awireless-telecommunications network. Illustrative wirelesstelecommunications technologies include CDMA, GPRS, TDMA, GSM, and thelike (including what is known in the art as WiMax technology and alsoLong Term Evolution (LTE). In some embodiments, radio 117 might alsofacilitate other types of wireless communications including Wi-Ficommunications and GIS communications.

Input/output port 118 might take on a variety of forms. Illustrativeinput/output ports include a USB jack, stereo jack, infrared port,proprietary communications ports, and the like. Input/output components120 include items such as keyboards, microphones, speakers, touchscreens, and any other item usable to directly or indirectly input datainto communications device 100. Power supply 122 includes items such asbatteries, fuel cells, or any other component that can act as a powersource to power communications device 100.

As previously mentioned, an embodiment of the technology facilitates amethod of reducing mobile-phone fraud. One way of accomplishing thistask is to intentionally put a mobile device into an impairment statewhen it is activated so that when the mobile device is taken in forservice, an indication is presented to a technician that the mobiledevice is reportedly lost, stolen, or should otherwise be physicallyretained, the mobile device can be physically retained by thetechnician. Generally, when a mobile device is reported as lost orstolen, rights to that device should go to the owner of the wirelesstelecommunications network or a representative or designee thereof. Ineither case, to the extent a party associated with the wirelesstelecommunications network has the right to apprehend the mobile device,an embodiment of the technology creates a situation whereby such anentity has access to the mobile device.

One way of intentionally disabling certain functional aspects of amobile device is to communicate functionality-impairment instructions tothe mobile device when it is activated. At the time of attemptedactivation, the mobile device is checked to determine whether it hasbeen reportedly lost or stolen. If so, then at or near the time ofactivation, functionality-impairment instructions can be communicated tothe mobile device in one embodiment. In another embodiment, thefunctionality-impairment instructions can saliently reside within themobile device and then be activated by way of a code or otherinstruction when the mobile device is activated (or at some other time).To activate a mobile device is to enable it to communicate with a givenwireless telecommunications network.

Turning now to FIG. 2A, an illustrative operating environment accordingto one embodiment of the technology is provided and referenced generallyby the numeral 200. This embodiment includes a wirelesstelecommunications network 212 that includes a server 214 and a set ofembodied computer-executable instructions 216. Wirelesstelecommunications network 212 can communicate with a mobile device 218by way of a wireless telecommunications link 220. Mobile device 218includes a set of embodied computer-executable instructions 222 thatcarry out various functional aspects of the invention. Mobile device 218is identifiable by way of a unique identifier 224. The unique identifier224 can include an electronic serial number, MSID, or other identifierthat is usable to uniquely identify mobile device 218. Both mobiledevice 218 and/or server 214 might take the form of the generalcomputing device represented in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, activationdata 226 is ultimately communicated to mobile device 218 as well asfunctionality-impairment instructions 228 such that they ultimatelyreside in the mobile device, which is represented by reference numeral230.

In operation, at some point mobile device 218 is reported as being lostor stolen. In one scenario that lends itself to fraud, a person mightreport a phone as lost or stolen when in reality it is not. In thissituation, a person might maliciously report a phone as lost or stolenwhile actually retaining control of it. After the phone is reported aslost or stolen, the wireless telecommunications network will deactivatethe phone. But the current owner still retains possession of the phone.This leaves the current owner the option of attempting to sell the phonewhile making an insurance claim against the wireless telecommunicationsnetwork for a new phone. If, for example, the phone owner had purchasedinsurance that covered instances of theft and/or loss, then the ownercan make a claim that will ultimately result in receiving a new phone.But the owner can sell the reportedly lost phone to another person.

But in some cases, once the reportedly lost phone is reported as lost orstolen, the original owner often has no legal rights to the phone (byway of contract or other). With no legal rights to the phone, theoriginal owner is incapable of legally conveying ownership rights toanother party. In fact, in many situations legal title to the phonereverts to the operator of the wireless telecommunications network.Common arrangements are that a wireless telecommunications networkoperator will subsidize the cost of a phone to encourage customers tosubscribe to its wireless-telecommunications services.

The original owner committed fraud when he or she reported a phone aslost or stolen when in reality it wasn't. One way to discourage thissort of fraud is to provide a way for thewireless-telecommunications-network operator to obtain possession of thephone. One way for the operator to regain possession of the phone is tocreate a scenario in which the phone needs to be serviced and appearsserviceable by a technician who is authorized to work on the phone andis associated with the wireless-telecommunications-network operator.Thus, one embodiment of the technology actually allows the phone to beactivated by a subsequent user but also causes the phone to be placedinto a functionality-impairment state that is characterized bydeliberate impairments of various functional aspects of the phone.

This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. One way is to communicatefunctionality-impairment instructions 228 to mobile device 218 such thatthey 230 can be executed on a mobile device and thereby place it into afunctionality-impairment state. Illustrative functionality impairmentsinclude the likes of causing problems with a keyboard of the mobiledevice, its microphone, its display, other input means, other outputmeans, etc. An illustrative keyboard impairment might include aselection of buttons that no longer input data correctly. In oneembodiment, keys such as “9,” “1,” “0,” are left working. This wouldenable the user to call for emergency help via 911. The fullfunctionality of other keys can also be retained if, for example, theywould be used to call customer service, such as “2#.” But perhaps thefunctionality-impairment instructions 230 might cause the “4” key to nolonger function. This would be an irritating nuisance that might drivethe customer to take the phone into a service center. As will beexplained in greater detail below, when the phone is serviced at theservice center an embodiment of the technology leads to an indicationthat is presented that indicates that the phone is reportedly lost orstolen and thus should be confiscated.

An illustrative display impairment would include anything whereby thedisplay does not present data correctly. Perhaps the screen flickers,dims, has certain pixels disabled, will not turn off, anything that isout of the ordinary that would be a nuisance to a subsequent user of thephone could be a display impairment. An illustrative power impairmentmight include an inability to charge the device, or rapid drain of thebattery, or very slow charge of the battery, etc. Again, this would besomething noticeable by the user but preferably something that appearsto be correctable by a service technician.

The functionality-impairment instructions might also lead to some otherform of operational impairment. For example, perhaps a touch-screendevice does not respond to touch input as well as it should, does nottransition screens as it should, is not calibrated correctly, etc.

The various functionality-impairment examples that we have and willprovide herein are illustrative in nature. They are not meant to beexhaustive. Generally, the higher-level point is that a set offunctionality-impairment instructions 228 are executed so as to placemobile device 218 in a deliberate functional-impairment state. In oneembodiment, the characteristics of the functionality-impairment stateare communicated to network 212, such that when a technician eitherreports what is ostensibly wrong with mobile device 218 (or attempts todiagnose by way of providing unique identifier 224) such information isusable for the wireless telecommunications network 212 to respond thatthe phone is not actually experiencing problems; but, rather, is lost orstolen. By way of a code or some other means, the phone can be reducedto a normal state of operation after the technician has obtainedpossession of the phone.

Turning now to FIG. 2B, another illustrative operating environment 250is provided according to another embodiment of the technology. Thoseitems that are similar to FIG. 2A are not relabeled so as to not obscurevarious aspects of the technology. In this embodiment, activation data226A is provided from the wireless telecommunications network via theInternet 252 to a computing device 254, which may be a computer orsimilar device. In this embodiment, a user leverages the Internet toactivate the reportedly lost or stolen phone. For example, a user ofcomputing device 254 might log on to a website that is operated by thewireless-telecommunications-network operator in an attempt to activatethe phone.

In one embodiment, after providing identification criteria (such asunique identifier 224, for example), server 214 provides a set of codesto computing device 254 that, when entered into mobile device 218,invokes an activation sequence. A user would input the codes accordingto the instructions provided, which will lead to the mobile device beingactivated. In one embodiment, functionality-impairment instructions 228could then be communicated to mobile device 218 and then executed. Instill another embodiment, the functionality-impairment instructions 230Acould have always resided on mobile device 218 but be executed incidentto a special code that was received in connection with activating thephone. In this embodiment, the codes that are provided to computingdevice 254 are special codes that, when entered into mobile device 218,not only start an activation sequence but trigger the execution offunctionality-impairment instructions 230A.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a flow diagram is provided that depicts oneembodiment for reducing mobile-phone fraud according to the technology.FIG. 3 includes a depiction of a wireless telecommunications network 310and a mobile device 312 and a service center 314. These devices arecomparable and similar to the devices previously discussed in connectionwith FIGS. 1-2B. At a step 316, an activation request 318 iscommunicated to wireless telecommunications network 310. As previouslyalluded to, this activation request might be received by network 310 ina variety of ways. A first way includes receiving an activation requestfrom a mobile device itself. Another way includes receiving a request byway of a computing device such as computing device 254. In thisembodiment, a user submits a request by way of computing device 254,which is coupled by one or more networks such as the Internet 252 so asto submit the activation request.

At a step 320, activation data 322 is sent from wirelesstelecommunications network 310. Although 312 indicates for discussionpurposes that the activation data 322 is communicated to mobile device312, in one embodiment the activation data 322 is sent to a device suchas computing device 254 in the form of activation codes or other data.Thus, this data can be received directly or indirectly by mobile device312. In a situation where activation data is communicated to a computingdevice, the computing device will present information that is usable bymobile device 312 in order to activate it on wireless telecommunicationsnetwork 310.

As previously mentioned, activation 322 might take the form of codesthat, when entered into mobile device 312, begin an activation processthat ultimately allows mobile device 312 to communicate data throughwireless telecommunications network 310. In another embodiment,activation is done completely over the air such that activation data iscommunicated directly to mobile device 312, which uses it to complete anactivation process that results in mobile device 312 being able tocommunicate via wireless telecommunications network 310.

In one embodiment, mobile device 312 provides activation-response data324 to wireless telecommunications network 310 at a step 326. Theactivation-response data 324, if provided at all, is usable by wirelesstelecommunications network 310 to register mobile device 312 in a waythat will allow it to communicate by way of the network 310.

At a step 328, functionality-impairment instructions 330 arecommunicated to mobile device 312. In one embodiment, thesefunctionality-impairment instructions come from wirelesstelecommunications network 310. In another embodiment, theseinstructions could have always resided on mobile device 312. Forexample, they could have been embedded within a memory component ofmobile device 312 at the manufacturing or other early stage. In such anembodiment, the functionality-impairment instructions 330 could beactivated incident to receiving a certain code, which might becommunicated to mobile device 312 upon a determination that it isreportedly lost or stolen.

Functionality-impairment instructions 330 deliberately cause a set ofpredetermined problems on mobile device 312. And although the problemsare predetermined in one embodiment, they do not need to be the same forall mobile devices. For example, a first set of functionality-impairmentinstructions might affect a mobile device's keyboard (buttons or touchscreen). But another set of functionality-impairment instructions sentto a different mobile device might cause a different set of issues, suchas input problems. One of the reasons for randomizing the problems thatare caused on devices is to prevent nefarious users from easilydetermining that a set of problems associated with a mobile device aredeliberate instead of real.

If every mobile device had its “4” key rendered inoperable, then theseusers would quickly learn that if a mobile device's “4” key is notworking, then the mobile device is probably not really damaged at allbut has been placed into an artificial state of impairment. These userswould then try to develop a work-around so as to re-enable thefunctional aspects that were deliberately disabled. But if theimpairments are more subtle and randomized, then it would be harder forusers to determine that the problems associated with a mobile devicewere or were not deliberately inflicted.

Eventually, the mobile device is taken to a service center 314. At theservice center, a technician can provide diagnostic information 334 tothe wireless telecommunications network 310 at a step 332. In oneembodiment, this includes sending a unique identifier such as uniqueidentifier 224 to wireless telecommunications network 310. At thispoint, a server such as server 214 could reference a database to seewhether the device corresponding to unique identifier 224 has beenreported as lost or stolen. In some embodiments, this data store couldreside on server 214 as well. In other embodiments, the server could becoupled to the network, as shown by reference numeral 256 in FIG. 2B.

In other embodiments, diagnostic information 334 includes an indicationof the types of problems that the mobile device is experiencing. Forexample, a technician could input at the service center that a mobiledevice is suffering from a screen flicker, keypad-entry problem, etc. Instill other embodiments, the service center could present atrouble-shooting procedure that requests information from thetechnician. Based on the answers provided to the questions, the wirelesstelecommunications network 310 will be able to determine whether theproblems affecting the mobile device were deliberately caused as aresult of the phone being reportedly lost or stolen.

Similarly, in another embodiment, the user himself or herself couldattempt to troubleshoot the device by receiving instructions from awebsite associated with the wireless-telecommunications-networkoperator. In this embodiment, based on the answers, the user would bepresented with an indication that the problems can be remedied by takingthe device to an authorized service center. Alternatively, the usercould simply be instructed to take the device to an authorized servicecenter. At the service center, the technician would then learn that themobile device is reported as lost or stolen as previously described.

That is, an indication 338 is presented to the service center at a step336 that indicates that the mobile device 312 is reported as lost orstolen. This indication 338 does not necessarily need to come from thewireless telecommunications network per se. It might come directly orindirectly from the wireless telecommunications network or anothercomputing device that is equipped with an ability to provide theindication. At a step 342, the presentation 340 is presented at servicecenter 314.

Turning now to FIG. 4, another illustrative process-flow diagram isprovided that illustrates another embodiment of the technology tofacilitate a method of reducing mobile-phone fraud. For the sake ofbrevity and simplicity, the elements in FIG. 4 that correspond to FIG. 3are not relabeled. But to further explain that another embodiment iscontemplated within the scope of the invention, FIG. 4 shows that theactivation-response data does not necessarily need to be communicated tothe wireless telecommunications network. That is, in some embodimentsmobile device 312 is able to be activated as a result of receivingactivation data 322 alone. Moreover, the impairment instructions can beactivated as shown by reference numeral 410, which indicates that theywere already present on the mobile device or were received by the mobiledevice in a different way than over the air from the wirelesstelecommunications network.

Turning now to FIG. 5, an illustration is shown whereby a mobile deviceis in a first state 510 (a normal state) and then transitions 512 to asecond state 514 (an impaired state). As previously mentioned, themobile device in the normal state 510 can transition to the impairedstate 514 in a variety of ways in connection with executing a set ofembodied instructions that ultimately cause the mobile device to beplaced into the impaired state 514. Turning now to FIG. 6, anillustrative method for reducing mobile-phone fraud is provided andreferenced generally by the numeral 610.

At a step 612, a request to activate a mobile device is received. Theactivation request can be received by way of the Internet, mobiledevice, and/or some other vehicle. At a step 614, a determination ismade that the mobile device is identified as lost or stolen. One way ofdetermining that the mobile device is identified as being lost or stolenis to query and then receive a response back from a database that storesinformation about mobile devices that are reported as being lost orstolen. In one embodiment, this database resides on a server such asserver 214 in connection with a wireless-telecommunications network. Inother embodiments, it is coupled to the network as shown by referencenumeral 256 in FIG. 2B.

At a step 616, activation data is sent that enables the mobile device tocommunicate via a wireless telecommunications network even though themobile device might be lost or stolen. Thus, in this embodiment, themobile device is not prohibited from being activated. The mobile phonemight be a new or pre-owned phone and a pre-owned phone could becharacterized as legitimate or illegitimate.

Sometimes mobile phones are stolen even before they hit the stores. Insuch a situation, these phones could be identified by the provider aslost or stolen. When someone attempts to activate a phone, they willultimately have the phone intentionally plagued with a set of one ormore problems that will motivate them to bring the phone into anauthorized service center where it can be recovered according to anembodiment of the technology. Although throughout this document we haveoften referred to phones being lost or stolen, we mean to include withinthe scope of those terms situations such as broken or otherwiseunusable.

For example, a user might drop his or her phone into a sink of water andthen report it damaged. If this is a situation that would allow theuser's insurance to be applicable, then although technically the phoneis not lost or stolen it is still unusable and presumed to no longer belegally owned by the user or at least be lawfully retrievable by thewireless-telecommunications-network provider or designee.

At a step 618, functionality-impairment instructions are sent to themobile device that deliberately disable functional aspects of the mobiledevice thereby placing it into a functionally-impaired state. Aspreviously mentioned, these functionality-impairment instructions can besent directly to the mobile device over the air or indirectly by way ofanother means, such as coupling the phone to a computing device that isused in connection with activating the phone.

At a step 620, a description of the functional aspects that weredisabled is stored. The description can take the form of actual problemsthat were inflicted onto the phone or might be as simple as logging aunique identifier that identifies the phone. This data can be logged ina server such as server 214 or in a database such as database 256, forexample. With this data stored, the phone can be identified at a latertime as being reportedly lost or stolen.

At a step 622, an indication that the mobile device is experiencingissues that stem from the functionality-impairment instructions isreceived. As previously mentioned, this indication can be received as aresult of the phone being taken into a service center; and, thus,communicated by way of a technician attempting to troubleshoot thephone. Or in other embodiments, this indication might come more directlyfrom the user by way of a computing device coupled to the Internetwherein the computing device was being used to present troubleshootinginformation that the user was carrying out on the mobile device. At somepoint the computing device might request information from the user, andthis information would be used to create an indication that was receivedas described in step 622.

At a step 624, confirmation is made that the mobile device is reportedas being lost or stolen. Thus, if a technician requested troubleshootinghelp or for whatever reason sent the mobile device's unique identifierto the wireless telecommunications network, then it would inspect eitherserver 214 or database 256 to determine whether the device is reportedlylost or stolen. If it is, then at a step 626 a notification wouldultimately be presented that the mobile device is reported as lost orstolen. In one embodiment, this step contemplates sending information toan entity such as service center 314, which would include a computingdevice upon which a notification would be presented. In otherembodiments, the presentation could occur on the phone itself.

At a step 628, incident to receiving another indication that anothermobile device is experiencing problems, a wireless telecommunicationsnetwork could communicate a different set of functionality-impairmentinstructions that would result in a still different set of problemsbeing manifested on the other mobile device. We have previouslymentioned that one of the reasons of doing this is to prevent nefarioususers from determining that a given device has been deliberately putinto a problem state that is relatively easy to recover from if theright information is known.

Turning now to FIG. 7, another method for reducing fraud by way ofrecovering a lost or stolen mobile device is provided and referencedgenerally by the numeral 710. This embodiment includes receiving inputfrom a technician who has obtained a mobile device in connection withaddressing a problem. A computing device used in connection withtroubleshooting the phone submits a query to determine whether themobile device has been reported as lost or stolen in a step 714. In oneembodiment, this query includes a unique identifier of the mobiledevice.

A response to the query is received at a step 716. In connection withthis response, one embodiment contemplates presenting a visualindication at a step 718 that the mobile device is reported as beinglost or stolen when the mobile device is identified as being lost orstolen.

Turning now to FIG. 8, still another method for reducing mobile-phonefraud is provided and referenced generally by the numeral 810. In thisembodiment at a step 812, functionality-impairment instructions areprovided that, when executed by the mobile device, transition it to animpaired state. This impaired state stems from executing thefunctionality-impairment instructions after a determination is made thatthe mobile device is reported as lost or stolen. Thefunctionality-impairment instructions could be provided from a varietyof sources. We have mentioned several earlier in this document. Thedifferent types of impairments might include a keyboard impairment, adisplay impairment, a power impairment, or an operational impairment.

At a step 814, the functionality-impairment instructions areautomatically executed, thereby placing the mobile device into theimpaired state, such as that represented by numeral 514 of FIG. 5.

Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as wellas components not shown, are possible without departing from the scopeof the claims below. Embodiments of the technology have been describedwith the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternativeembodiments will become apparent to readers of this disclosure after andbecause of reading it. Alternative means of implementing theaforementioned can be completed without departing from the scope of theclaims below. Certain features and subcombinations are of utility andmay be employed without reference to other features and subcombinationsand are contemplated within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. Non-transitory computer-readable media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon, that, when executedby a computing device, facilitate a method of reducing mobile-phonefraud, the method comprising: determining that a mobile device is lostor stolen; deactivating the determined lost or stolen mobile device,wherein deactivating prevents the determined lost or stolen mobiledevice from communicating via a wireless-telecommunications network;receiving a request to activate the determined lost or stolen mobiledevice from the determined lost or stolen mobile device; upon receivingthe request to activate from the determined lost or stolen mobiledevice, communicating to the determined lost or stolen mobile deviceactivation data, which enables the mobile device to communicate via awireless-telecommunications network; and communicating to the mobiledevice functionality-impairment instructions, which, when run on themobile device, deliberately disable a set of functional aspects of themobile device thereby transforming the mobile device from a first stateto a second state and wherein the second state is functionally impairedas compared to the first state.
 2. The computer-readable media of claim1, wherein the determining that the mobile device is lost or stolen isincident to submitting an inquiry to a database that stores informationabout mobile devices that are reported as being lost or stolen.
 3. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the request to activate thedetermined lost or stolen mobile device is received via one or more ofthe following: the Internet; the mobile device.
 4. The computer-readablemedia of claim 1, wherein the determining that the mobile device is lostor stolen includes receiving a response from a database that storesinformation about mobile devices that are reported as being lost orstolen.
 5. The computer-readable media of claim 4, where the response isreceived incident to an inquiry regarding a status of the determinedlost or stolen mobile device, wherein the status includes new orpreowned and wherein the preowned status could be further characterizedlegitimate or illegitimate.
 6. The computer-readable media of claim 5,wherein the illegitimate characterization indicates one or more ofstolen, lost, broken, or unusable.
 7. The computer-readable media ofclaim 1, wherein communicating the activation data includes instructinga first communications device to send the activation data to thedetermined lost or stolen mobile device.
 8. The computer-readable mediaof claim 1, wherein communicating the functionality-impairmentinstructions includes instructing the first or a second communicationsdevice to send the functionality-impairment instructions to thedetermined lost or stolen mobile device.
 9. The computer-readable mediaof claim 8, wherein the functionality-impairment instructions impairvarious functional aspects of the determined lost or stolen mobiledevice, including one or more of the following aspects: data-inputfunctionality; and data-output functionality.
 10. The computer-readablemedia of claim 9, wherein data-input functionality includes one or moreof: keyboard functionality such that certain keys are not responsive toinputting data; and voice-input functionality.
 11. The computer-readablemedia of claim 9, wherein data-output functionality includes one or moreof: display functionality such that a display of the determined lost orstolen mobile device presents data in an undesirable manner; and audiofunctionality such that sound outputted from the determined lost orstolen mobile device is outputted in an undesirable manner.
 12. Themedia of claim 1, in connection with a request for service, furthercomprising: receiving an indication that the determined lost or stolenmobile device is experiencing issues that stem from thefunctionality-impairment instructions; confirming that the determinedlost or stolen mobile device is reported as lost or stolen; andpresenting a notification that the determined lost or stolen mobiledevice is reported as lost or stolen.
 13. The media of claim 1, furthercomprising storing a description of the functional aspects that weredisabled, thereby enabling an indication of the description to bepresented incident to troubleshooting the determined lost or stolenmobile device.
 14. The media of claim 1, further comprisingcommunicating to a second determined lost or stolen mobile device asecond set of functionality-impairment instructions that deliberatelydisable a different set of functional aspects as compared to thoseassociated with the determined lost or stolen mobile device.
 15. Amethod of recovering a lost or stolen mobile device, comprising:incident to receiving input from a technician who has obtained themobile device in connection with addressing a problem associated withthe mobile device, submitting a query to determine whether the mobiledevice has been reported as being lost or stolen, wherein the problemwas deliberately caused by instructions received from awireless-telecommunications-network provider when activating the mobiledevice and wherein a description of the functional aspects that weredisabled by the instructions is stored, thereby enabling an indicationof the description to be presented incident to troubleshooting the lostor stolen mobile device; and receiving a response to the query;presenting a visual indication that the mobile device is reported asbeing lost or stolen when the mobile device is identified as being lostor stolen.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the input from thetechnician includes an identifier that uniquely identifies the mobiledevice.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the instructions receivedfrom the wireless-telecommunications-network provider transition themobile device from a first state to an impaired state, wherein theimpaired state is characterized as being impaired with respect to thefirst state, and wherein the impaired state is further characterized asdeliberately disabling functional aspects of one or more of thefollowing, (1) a keyboard of the mobile device, (2) a microphone of themobile device, on (3) a display of the mobile device.
 18. Non-transitorycomputer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodiedthereon, that, when executed by a computing device, facilitate a methodof receiving activation data that is usable to enable a determined lostor stolen mobile device to be used on a wireless-telecommunicationsnetwork, the method comprising: providing activation data to thedetermined lost or stolen mobile device enabling the determined lost orstolen mobile device to communicate with other mobile devices by way ofthe wireless-telecommunications network; providingfunctionality-impairment instructions to the determined lost or stolenmobile device that, when executed by the determined lost or stolenmobile device, transition it to an impaired state, wherein thefunctionality-impairment instructions are activated after adetermination that the determined lost or stolen mobile device isreported as lost or stolen; automatically executing thefunctionality-impairment instructions, thereby placing the determinedlost or stolen mobile device into the impaired state, which ischaracterized by one or more of the following, (1) keyboard impairment,wherein a selection of buttons no longer input data correctly into thedetermined lost or stolen mobile device; (2) display impairment, whereina display of the determined lost or stolen mobile device does notpresent data correctly; (3) power impairment, wherein a power supply ofthe determined lost or stolen mobile device does not function correctly;(4) operational impairment, wherein the determined lost or stolen mobiledevice does not operate as it should but for being in the impairedstate.
 19. The computer-readable media of claim 18, whereincommunication ability of the determined lost or stolen mobile devicewith the other wireless mobile devices is impeded as a result of thefunctionality-impairment instructions.